


you are my sunshine

by da_vinky



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Nureyev's messy room, Other, idk how to tag this. there is nothing of substance in this fic, it's a mess. seriously, peter nureyev gets a hug, so fluffy that if you put it in water it would dissolve, they cuddle at some point what's the tag for that, three seconds of sad then back to ur regularly scheduled cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27466168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/da_vinky/pseuds/da_vinky
Summary: It was small, cardboard and more than a little beaten up as he lay it on the bed, but when Nureyev saw the label, he immediately realized why it had caught Juno’s attention.The box was labelled ‘LOVERS’.--Nureyev cleans his room, Juno helps, and they take a trip down memory lane.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 5
Kudos: 85





	you are my sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> mentions of weapons and allusions to abandonment issues in this fic!!

The room was a mess. 

Somehow, Nureyev had almost expected it to be clean by the time he got back… But no, this was a task he would have to tackle. 

He was going to finally clean his room. 

It was not a decision he’d made on his own, Vespa had brought it up during the family meeting that morning, claiming a fire hazard. To be fair, there were several explosives buried haphazardly under his piles of clothing, but there were  _ also _ several gallons of water in the back of his closet. Everything was fine! But no, Buddy had agreed, and now Nureyev was going to have to clean out his room before he was allowed on another job with them. Honestly, it’s like he was a child! 

“Need any help?” 

“Juno, thank the stars.” Peter sighed, turning to find Juno leaning against his doorframe. “Help would be… greatly appreciated.” 

“Yeah, seems like it. Has it gotten worse since the last time I was in here?” He teased, winding his way around the mountains of miscellaneous things on the floor, avoiding the booby traps expertly. He  _ did _ have plenty of practice… “So. Where do we start?” 

“I am… honestly not sure. I did not plan for this turn of events.” 

“Why don’t we start by just folding things? You have a lot of clothing, babe.” 

“Excellent idea. Should we just… Push some things aside to make room?” 

“Uh. I guess so. Here, you take that tower and I’ll do this one. See you on the other side, Nureyev.” Juno nodded, giving Peter a mocking salute as he disappeared behind a mountain of silk scarves and kimonos. 

They folded in silence for at least a few hours, until Juno came upon the box. It was small, cardboard and more than a little beaten up as he lay it on the bed, but when Nureyev saw the label, he immediately realized why it had caught Juno’s attention. 

The box was labelled ‘LOVERS’. 

“Please don’t tell me it’s full of fingers or something.” Juno said, hands on his hips. 

“No, just memories. Well, shall we?” Nureyev sighed, sliding the knife out from his sleeve to cut the tape holding the box closed. He pulled back the flaps, a few dozen feathers poofing out. They sat down, the box between them.

“This is your box of… trophies?” 

“You wound me, darling. It’s things that past lovers have left behind.” 

Juno pulled out a crystal ball. “Who brings one of these to a hookup?” 

“Well, it may not have originally been a hookup. Sometimes attraction just… happens.” Nureyev winked. “Worked out well enough for us, hm?” 

“Touché.” He grumbled, fumbling for the next item, a scarf. As he pulled it out, it just kept coming, until Juno’s lap and arms were filled with what must have been ten feet of scarf. “Jesus Christ, who left this behind? How the hell do you forget  _ this? _ ” 

“He seemed very forgetful. He also left a screwdriver and what looked like a flute, but those wouldn’t fit in the box, unfortunately.” 

“And you decided to keep the monster scarf instead.” 

“It was the most interesting out of the bunch!” Nureyev sniffed, looking into the box himself. He’d forgotten he had most of these… 

It was an eclectic collection. There were glasses and ties, a healthy dose of feathers, loose change from all over the galaxy and what Nureyev thought was an egg but wasn’t completely sure. 

“Is this one of yours?” Juno asked, unearthing a gun. He held it by his index finger and thumb as if leaving too many fingerprints would indict him in some kind of crime, which it probably would. 

“Not one of mine, darling, another item from the lost and found. An ancient thing, isn’t it? It doesn’t even have a stun setting!” 

“Ooookay, I’ll put that back now.” He said, quickly pushing it towards Nureyev. 

“And they said chivalry was dead.” Peter deadpanned, dropping the gun into another box labelled ‘BLASTERS & ETC.’ 

Juno ignored him, holding up a handful of wallets. “Are you sure someone would leave behind  _ these _ ?” He demanded, raising an eyebrow. 

“If you’re going to get technical about it, those were less “left behind” and more “stolen out of their back pockets while they were distracted”. I see it as a public service, some of those wallets were very heavy.” He smiled innocently, taking them from Juno’s hands. There were more still in other boxes, but Juno didn’t have to know that. 

Juno rolled his eye, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He was adorable when he smiled like this, a hint of teeth peeking out from behind his lips… it was the kind of smile only Nureyev got to see, and he loved it. 

“Cigarettes, feathers, another wallet, a glass eye… Christ. You get around, Nureyev.” He said, sounding almost impressed. 

“I’ve found it’s inevitable in this line of work. You do meet a lot of people, after all.” He sighed, pulling the box onto his lap. 

At the very bottom, buried there on purpose under a layer of beads, were two things. One, a watch, two, a tube of lipstick, both belonging to Juno Steel. Next to him, the lady in question was unawares, examining the glass eye. 

“Why did none of these people come back to get their stuff?” He asked, holding the eye up against his eyepatch. 

“You didn’t.” Nureyev replied. The proof was right there in front of him, cold and dusty. 

Juno seemed to realize the same thing, putting down the glass eye. “So… Got anything of mine in there?” 

Nureyev tilted the box so he could see, beads spilling out onto the bed. Juno picked up his things gently, like museum artefacts. They were, in a way. Reminiscent of a time gone by, belonging to a person who no longer existed. Juno had changed from the lady who left those items, and they both knew it. Still, looking at them and remembering… It wasn’t exactly pleasant. 

“You had your reasons, but for the rest of them… I’m not sure whether I didn’t want them to come back or whether they just… didn’t come back.” Nureyev chuckled softly, shaking his head. 

Juno looked up at him, his eye fiery. “My reasons were shit and you know it. I’ve said it before, but I am so sorry. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop being sorry, Nureyev.” 

He smiled, gently taking the watch and the lipstick from Juno and putting them back in the box. It was where they best belonged, he thought. “It’s alright, my love. I know. You were not the first one to do that to me.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better!” He groaned, rolling his eye. 

“You  _ are  _ the first who came back, though. I don’t think you understand how much that means to me.” Nureyev took his hand, kissing their joined fingers. Every time he looked at Juno, he thanked whoever was in charge up above that he hadn’t been reduced to another dusty item in a box, another person Nureyev wouldn’t get to love again. 

Even from the beginning he’d been different from the rest. He was stuck in his head. At the time he’d likened it to an insidious pop song or a stain on the ceiling, but in recent months he’d amended it to something like that feeling you get just as the sunset fades and the sky becomes well and truly dark. You keep replaying those last few moments of colour and warmth, and wondering if there was anything you could do to make them stay a few moments more.

Juno squeezed his hand. “Where’d you go, honey? Are you composing poetry in your head again?” He teased. 

“It’s nothing you should concern yourself with, my dear.” Nureyev leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. “I care about you entirely too much, you know.” 

“You’re such a sap. Get the hell over here.” Juno grumbled, scooting back against the headboard and making room beside him. Nureyev had no problem whatsoever complying. 

As Juno tucks into his chest, arms around his waist, Nureyev decides he isn’t a sunset either. He isn't the brief, ever changing colours, not anymore. He's the sun itself. There are times when it's dark and cold and everything seems lost, but he'll be back. He always is, he always will be. You don't need to  _ wish _ for those moments gone to return, because you know they’re coming back. He is constant and firm and bright and absolutely breathtaking, and Nureyev is  _ so  _ in love. 

The room doesn’t get cleaned until the next week. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> things i like:  
> \- juno steel calling people 'babe'  
> \- nureyev being wistful  
> \- juno getting stuck in nureyev's head 
> 
> pls listen to my juno and nureyev playlists on spotify i promise they go hard <3  
> juno  
>  nureyev


End file.
